A township can have different meanings depending on the country and context in which it is used:
United States and Canada (North America): In North America, a township is a specific type of administrative division used in land survey systems. In the United States, townships are most commonly used in the Midwest and some other parts of the country. In Canada, townships are used primarily in the eastern provinces. These townships are typically a square area of land, typically six miles by six miles (36 square miles), or a similar configuration depending on the specific survey system used. Townships can be further divided into smaller units, such as sections, for land management and ownership purposes.
South Africa: In South Africa, a township refers to a residential area established during the apartheid era for non-white citizens. These areas were segregated from the main cities and towns and often experienced poor living conditions. Today, many townships have evolved and have improved living conditions, but the term is still associated with historically segregated communities.
Australia: In Australia, the term "township" is often used to refer to small rural towns or settlements. These are typically smaller than cities or larger towns and often serve as centers for local communities.
A square meter (symbol: m²) is a unit of area in the International System of Units (SI), which is the metric system commonly used in many countries worldwide. It is defined as the area of a square with sides that each measure one meter in length.
To give you a visual sense of the size of a square meter, imagine a square that is one meter long on each side. It is equal to 10,000 square centimeters (cm²) or 0.0001 hectares (ha). In square feet, one square meter is approximately 10.7639 square feet (sq ft).
The square meter is the primary unit for measuring area in the metric system and is widely used in various scientific, engineering, and everyday applications for describing land area, room dimensions, and many other surface measurements.